Lock for automobiles.



P CYR. LOCK FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATlON FILED IUNE 1|"l9'5- Patented Nov. 30, 1915.

Invenfor. Paul Cyr BYWKM six " the automobile engine,

lidia i ldii ii (EYE, 1F BQSTON,

IiIASSACi-XUSETTS, A$SXGNGR 0 DIVE-HALF TO WILLLQM 5.. DQVTIQ'EY, OT?HYDE PA K,

MASSAfiHUSETTS.

LUCK FOE AUTOIVIOBILE$ 1 152 2324 Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov, 3%, i935.

Appiication filed June 11, 1915. Serial No. 33,493.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1,?AUL CYR, a citizen of the U ited States, residing atBoston,

county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvementin Looks for Automobiles, of wiich the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, likecharacters on the drawin reuresentiru like arts.

a A. I:

or closed and is so constructed that when the circuits are locked openthey can be closed through the look only by a person who understands theproper combination.

My improved lock comprises a plurality of pairs of contacts, cuits, acontact element contacts constructed so that the contacts of each pairwiil be electrically connected in one position only of the contactelement, and a novel device for operating the contact elements to throwthem into operative position to close the circuits, which device is inthe form of a combination lock that can be successfully operated only bythe person who knows the proper combination.

In order to give an understanding oi my invention 1 have shown in thedrawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described,after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appendedclaims. in the drawings Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view on theline w:u, Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a front view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sectionon the line 1 g Fig. 1; Fig. 4; is a side iew of my improved lock with aportionbroken out tobetter show the interior construction; Figs. 5, 6and 7 are yiews showing different contact elements.

The lock herein illustrated comprisesa casing 1 preferably. otinsulatingmaterial and having located within it a plurality of pairs of contacts,there being one pair of contacts for each of the circuits that, is to beopened or closed. Where the device. is to be used as an automobile lockwill preferably make so that it Will have as many pairs of contacts asmounted upon one for each of the cirfor each pair or there are cylindersin and each pair ofcontacts will be in the circuit leading B00116 of thespark plugs.

in the illustrated embodiment of my invention I. have shown a devicehaving six pans of contacts, but this number may be varied withoutdeparting from the invention. The contacts of each pair are designated 3and 4, respectively, and each con;

tact has secured thereto a wire 5 forming part of the correspondingcircuit. The contacts 3 and i of each pair are situated'on oppositesides of the casing l and are received in recesses 6 and 7 formed in thecats ing, said contacts being shown as pivotally rods or bars 8, 9 thatextend longitudinally of the casing.

Each pair of contacts 3 and Q has associated therewith a rotativecontact element 10 which will preferably be in the form of a disk ofinsulating material which carries a contact strip 11 of conductingmateriai adapted when the contact element is in a predetermined positionto have engagement with and electrically connect the contacts 3 and aofthecorresponding pair, as seen in Fig. 8. I

i will preferably serrate the peripheral portion of each of the disks 10so as to pro vide projections 12 thereon, and the contact strip 11 is sopositioned that the ends thereof come between adjacent projections 12.As

a result when each disk 10 is properly positioned to electricallyconnect the contact members 3 and 2 of its pair, the ends of the contactmembers will occupy positions between adjacent projections. members areyieldingly held against the periphery of the disk by some suitable meansherein shown as agieldable presser element 13 in the form or a rubberbuffer. other suitable yielding element may be used, however.

The yielding presser elements 13 yield ingly' hold the contacts 3 and 4against the periphery-of the disk 10, but as the disk is turned,saidpresse'r elements 13 permit the contacts 3 and 4' to yield sufiicientlyto pass permitting it to be turned upon the application of suiiicientforce.

The casing 1 is designed to be secured to the dash-board orinstrument-board "i i of The Contact Any an automobile by any suitablemeans, such coupling each of the disks 10 to the spindle 16 so that byso doing and then rotating the, spindle the disks can be adjusted intothe proper position to have their contact strips 1].- operatively andelectrically connect the contacts of the corresponding pair. The meansfor thus independently connecting each of the disks 10 to the spindle 16comprises a key element 19 which operates in a key slot 20 extendinglongitudinally of the spindle 16.

Each of the disks 10 is provided with a slot 22 and the key element 19is provided with an extension 21 which is adapted to be inserted intothe slots 22 of the various disks 10. The slots 22 of the disks 10 aresituated in different angular positions relative to the contact strip11, as shown in Figs. 3, 5 and 6, so that when the disks 10 are allproperly adjusted into a position iu which the contact strips connectthe contacts 3 and 4 the slots 22 of the different disks will'b out ofalinement and will occupy various angular positions. The key slot 20 isof suflicient depth to receive the extension or widened portion 21 ofthe key, and the key is provided with a plurality of yielding presserelements 23 in the form of yieldingly-sustained pins that engage theback side of the key slot 20 and'maintain the key in j the positionshown in Fig. 1. In using the device, the operator inserts the key intothekey slot a sufficient distance so that the ex-.

tension 21 thereon will come in line with the innermost disk' 10 andwill then turn i the key until said extension drops 1nto the notch 22 ofsaid innermost disk. This act couples the disk to the spindle 16. Thespindle 16 is then turned in order to turn the disk 10 that is lockedtherewith into proper position so that the contact strip 11 willelectrically connect the contacts 3 and 4 of the corresponding pair. Inorder to-do this the operator must bring the pointer 17 opposite somepredetermined figure on the dial 18 which corresponds to the innermostdisk 10. When the innermost disk has been properly adjusted the key ispartiallywithdrawn .until the extension 21 is in line with the eated bythe figures thereon which will bring the strip 11 into a position toelectrically connect-the contacts 3 and 4 of the corresponding pair.This operation is repeated for each of the disks, and when all the disks10 have been properly adjusted all the circuits are closed and theengine can be started. In order to close all the circuits it isnecessary for the operator to know the proper combination and to knowthe proper positions into which the pointer 17 must be adjusted for thevarious disks.

The construction herein provided is suchv that the combination can beupset with one movement of the key element 19 thereby making theoperation of locking the automobile an extremely simple one. When it isdesired to lock the automobile by breaking the connections for each ofthe circuits, the key element 19 is inserted into the key slot in aposition reversed from that shown in Fig. 1, that is, with the extension21 on the upper side and the spring-pressed pins or tumblers 23 on thelower side. as many spring-pressed pins as there are contact elements10, and these pins have the same spacing as the contactelements. When,therefore, the key 19 is fully inserted there will be one pin 23opposite each contact element, and if the key is inserted in a positionreversed from that shown'in Fig. 1 the pins 23 will project through thelower open side of the slot 20. As the key is turned the variousspring-pressed pins 23 will drop into the slots 22of the contactelements 10, thuslocking the elements to the key, and continued turningmovement of the key will turn the contact elements to breaktheelectrical connection between the corre-' sponding contacts 3 and 4.Hence, it will be seen that by inserting the key 19 into the positionreversed from that shown in Fig. 1 and turning the key through onecomplete revolution, the combination will be upset and 'the circuitswill all be broken, thus locking that it will not be possible for anyunau There are thorized person to connect the contacts ofany pair by awire or other similar connection.

I have herein shownthe wires 5 as extending through slots 25 formed inthe sides of the casing. The device is very simple in construction andfective lock.

While I have illustrated herein a selected provides an extremely efv 1independently.

embodiment of my invention, 1 do not wish to be limited to theconstructional features shown.

I claim: l

1. In a. device of the class described, the combination with a casing,of a plurality of pairs of contacts carried thereby, a contact elementfor each pair of contacts, said contactelements being rotatively mountedin the casing and each element adapted in one position thereof toconnect electrically the contacts of the corresponding pair, an actuatorcommon to all of said contactelements "for adjusting them independentlyinto operative position and a single device for establishing anoperative connection between said actuator and each of the contactelements 2. In a device of the class described, the combination with acasing, of a plurality of pairs of contacts carried thereby, a contactelement for each pair of contacts, said contact elements beingrotatively mounted in the casing and each element adapted in oneposition thereof to connect electrically the contacts of thecorresponding pair, an actuator common to all the elements, and a keyelement for connecting each element independently to the actuatorwhereby said element may be adjusted.

3. In a device or" the class described, the combination with a'casing,of a plurality of pairs of contacts carried thereby, a plurality ofcontact elements, one for each pair of contacts, rotatably mounted insaid casing, each contact element adapted in one position to connectelectrically the contacts of the corresponding pair, a slotted spindleon which said contact elements are rotatably mounted, and" a key elementmovable longitudinally of said spindle and adapted to connect eachcontact element thereto.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casing, ofa plurality of pairs of contacts carried thereby, a spindie mounted insaid casing and provided with an indicator, a plurality of contactelements rotatably mounted on said spindle,

each. element adapted in one position to electrically connect thecontacts of a pair, means common to all the contact elements to connecteach contact element independently to the spindle, and a dialcoiiperating with said indicator to guide the operator in turning thespindle to adjust properly each contact element.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casing, ofa plurality of pairs ofcontacts carried thereby, a slotted spindlejournaled in the casing and provided with an indicator, a plurality ofcontact elements, one for each pan of contacts rotatably mounted on saidspindle and each provided with a slot, and a key element adjustablelongitudinally of the slotted spindle and adapted to lock each contactelement independently to the spindle whereby said contact element can beindependently adjusted ito operative position, and a dial cotiperatingwith the pointer to indicate the proper adjustment of the spindle forsetting each contact element.

combination with a casing, of a plurality of pairs of contacts carriedthereby, aocontact element for each pair of contacts, said contactelements being rotatably mounted in the I casing, and each elementadapted: in one position thereof to connect electrically the contacts ofthe corresponding pair, and an actuator common to all of said contactelements for adjusting them and a device common to all said contactelements and adapted in one position to connect them independently tosaid actuator and in another position to connect them simultaneously tosaid -actuator independently into operative position and simultaneouslyinto non-operative position.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with-a casing, ofa plurality of pairs of contacts carried thereby, a plurality of contactelements,'one for each pair of contacts, rotatably mounted in thecasing, each contact element adapted in one position to axially throughthe contact elements, and a key element movable longitudinally ofsaidspindle and adapted when inserted into the slot in one position toconnect each contact element thereto independently and when insertedinto the slot in the reverse position to connect all the contactelements thereto simultaneously.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casing, ofa plurality of pairs of contacts carried thereby, a plurality of contactelements, one for each pair of contacts, rotatably mounted in thecasing, each contact element adapted in one position to connectelectrically the contacts of the corresponding pair, a slotted spindleeXtend ing axially through the contact elements, each contact elementhaving a notch, and a key element adapted to be inserted in saidslot-and provided on one side with an extension adapted in differentpositions to engage the notches of the different contact elements and onthe other side with a plurality of yielding projections one for eachcontact element.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

